mxyzptlk
03-05-2005, 10:52 PM
I just went on vacation to Australia and thought I would report on the cardrooms at the casinos there. I went to the Crown Casino in Melbourne and the Star City Casino in Sydney.
First, Crown is an all-around better place. It's easier to get to and is more lively. The card room there is decent size, but there is not always a lot of action, especially during the day. I played 6/12 HE and won $140 in 2 hours. The players are as bad as anywhere else. The room is run by friendly, helpful people. I recommend it. 4/8, 6/12, 10/20, and 20/40 limit games. They also have Omaha high and this game Manila, which is like HE, but cards come out one at a time. They sometimes have PL games, but they have a 5/5 blind structure, which can generate some big pots. They have weekly tourneys too. Big rake -- 10% capped at $6, but you don't tip the dealers. Good dealers, too.
Star City is much worse. They only have 6 tables and a large demand. Also a bunch of problems. First the signup waiting procedure is a pain. It is usually about a 3 hr wait and they text message you when your spot is ready. We missed our call by 5 mins and were told we had to go to the bottom of the list. We were pretty furious and got the duty manager for the casino involved and finally got put back at the top of the list. The other thing is that play is REALLY slow. Dealers are new-ish and handle all chip transactions at the table. They don't have a rake, but instead use this "CC" thing were every player pays a fixed fee per hand. Besides being expensive, it is very slow. Regardless, I won $200 at 5/10 HE in 1.5 hrs. The players are mostly awful. They also regularly have 5/5 PL HE and Omaha running. Overall, lots of problems there, but they are new and hopefully will change. One cardrooom manager was a little ticked we went to the duty manager, but the other seemed pleased we did that, telling us it was "the right thing to do", indicating that she thought some of their policies are a little wack.
First, Crown is an all-around better place. It's easier to get to and is more lively. The card room there is decent size, but there is not always a lot of action, especially during the day. I played 6/12 HE and won $140 in 2 hours. The players are as bad as anywhere else. The room is run by friendly, helpful people. I recommend it. 4/8, 6/12, 10/20, and 20/40 limit games. They also have Omaha high and this game Manila, which is like HE, but cards come out one at a time. They sometimes have PL games, but they have a 5/5 blind structure, which can generate some big pots. They have weekly tourneys too. Big rake -- 10% capped at $6, but you don't tip the dealers. Good dealers, too.
Star City is much worse. They only have 6 tables and a large demand. Also a bunch of problems. First the signup waiting procedure is a pain. It is usually about a 3 hr wait and they text message you when your spot is ready. We missed our call by 5 mins and were told we had to go to the bottom of the list. We were pretty furious and got the duty manager for the casino involved and finally got put back at the top of the list. The other thing is that play is REALLY slow. Dealers are new-ish and handle all chip transactions at the table. They don't have a rake, but instead use this "CC" thing were every player pays a fixed fee per hand. Besides being expensive, it is very slow. Regardless, I won $200 at 5/10 HE in 1.5 hrs. The players are mostly awful. They also regularly have 5/5 PL HE and Omaha running. Overall, lots of problems there, but they are new and hopefully will change. One cardrooom manager was a little ticked we went to the duty manager, but the other seemed pleased we did that, telling us it was "the right thing to do", indicating that she thought some of their policies are a little wack.